Rejecting the Congress' claim that a "land scam" has taken place in Navi Mumbai under the watch of the Maharashtra government, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said he was ready to order any probe.
Congress leaders in Mumbai had yesterday alleged that the government land in Kharghar was given to a private builder for just Rs 3.60 crore and that the transaction had "blessings" of the chief minister.
Addressing a press conference on the eve of the monsoon session of the state legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said the land in question did not belong to CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation), as claimed by the opposition, but to the state government.
The concerned district collector had the authority to make land allotments and this practice has been going on for the last 30 years.
"The matter has not come to me," the CM said.
Responding to a question on the demand of the Opposition for a judicial probe into the land transaction, Fadnavis said his government was ready for any probe as it had nothing to hide.
The Congress had alleged that the Fadnavis-led Urban Development department had helped a private builder "illegally acquire" 24 acres of notified land at Kharghar in the name of compensating a group of families displaced by the Koyna power project.
Fadnavis accused the Congress of spreading rumours for political purposes which he said would be responded with a "fact-based" political answer.
The chief minister termed as "serious" the collapse of a Road Over Bridge (ROB) near suburban Andheri railway station in Mumbai.
"The audit of all the foot over bridges had been asked for and the work was being done. We will have to see if the audit of this particular bridge was done or not," he said.
The CM said responsibility, whether it is of the Mumbai civic body or the state government, will have to be fixed.
He said this is not the time for a "blame game".
Responding to a question on the proposed Nanar refinery project in coastal Konkan, Fadnavis said he had taken cognisance of ally Shiv Sena's stand on the project.
"I would like to categorically state that the the project would not be imposed on the locals. All concerns and opposition will be resolved through talks," he added.
Fadnavis also rejected the criticism of Mumbai's Development Plan (DP), saying it had been prepared in a transparent manner.
He reiterated that there will be no compromise on open spaces in the DP.
Responding to a query on the Dhule incident in which five persons were lynched by a mob on rumours that they were members of a gang of "child lifters", the CM said the accused would be tried in a fast track court.
"Citizens need to understand that spreading rumours is an offence. They should also understand that forwarding rumours on the social media without verification meant that they are also part of the crime," he said, adding that police have initiated a public awareness campaign on this issue.
Fadnavis said the focus of the monsoon session would be on issues concerning farmers, as sowing for Kharip season is underway.
"A total of 27 bills will be taken up for introduction, discussion, and passage during the session," he said.
Fadnavis said, "Crop insurance worth Rs 2100 crore has been disbursed and 18 lakh farmers have received compensation for damage to their crops due to the pink bollworm infestation".
He said 25 per cent of farmers have received crop loan for the current sowing season.
"Under the Congress-led UPA government, the five-year average of the crop loan disbursement used to be Rs 17,000 crore to Rs 18,000 crore. In our time, we have given crop loan of Rs 40,000 crore, Rs 46,000 crore and Rs 34,000 crore, respectively per year, in the last three years," he said.
When asked about the status of the loan waiver, the chief minister said an amount of Rs 14,000 croe has been deposited in the bank accounts of 38 lakh farmers.
"The loan waiver scheme would continue till each and every eligible farmer gets the benefit," he added.
Hitting out at the Opposition which has criticised the government over delay in procurement of food grains, Fadnavis said, "between 2001-14, a total of 1.62 lakh tonnes of food grains worth Rs 426 crore were procured".
"In contrast, the government had procured food grains worth Rs 8,000 crore in the last three years. We have taken godowns on rent to store 3 lakh tonnes of food grains. The Congress and the NCP did nothing for procurement during their tenure," he alleged.
He said Maharashtra has received 96 per cent of the average rainfall till July 2.
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